DIY Pool Float Costume For The Pups

Let me introduce you to Finn and Fritz, our newest resident studio models! Okay, so they’re not exactly studio regulars, but we wish they were. We couldn’t think of any cuties better than them to strut our DIY pool float costume for the pups! Thankfully our friend Kate let’s us borrow lots of pretty things, fur kids included).

In hindsight, I wish we would’ve added a third member to the troop to sport a bikini so it would really come full circle, but you live and learn. Can’t you just see the family dressed in full Palm Springs gear now?!

As you can imagine, we had more fun watching them walk around with unicorn hair running down their neck than we’ve had during the last twenty photoshoots combined, and it was totally worth the sewing! That said, Let me show you what to do, and more importantly what NOT to do, if you’re looking to get a little splash out of your Halloween costumes too…

MY LATEST VIDEOS

MY LATEST VIDEOS

First things first, this would’ve been FAR easier and more practical for wearing if I had skipped velcro straps and had sewn it straight onto pink and white doggy t-shirts instead!

Secondly, I made the animal heads a bit too tall so they kept wanting to fall over the second either pup starting picking up speed or turned too fast. Ideally, the heads should only be about an inch or two taller than the dogs head to have better balance.

As for the rest, here you go!–

Flamingo Head Supplies

2 pieces of pink fabric for the flamingo head and neck

2 white parallelograms cut from white fabric

2 black pieces of fabric in the shape of the bottom of a flamingo’s beak

Flex foam

Black thread for the eyes

White thread

Flip the black and the white fabric pieces so that the inside of the fabrics faces up toward you.

Pinch about ½” of the edge of the white fabric and the matching edge of black fabric, and sew along that line. Repeat for the other black, and white pieces of fabric.

Keeping the fabrics inside out, line the two newly sewed pieces together.

Leaving an inch from the edge of the white fabric that isn’t connected to the black fabric, sew along the rest of the edges to create the beak. Remember to also leave an inch from the edge toward the other white end of the beak.

Line up your two pink flamingo head pieces (also inside out) to the remaining edges of your white pieces.

Pinch about ½” of the edges of the pink and white fabrics, and sew along that edge. (Repeat for the other side.)

Sew the rest of the flamingo’s head together, but leave the bottom of the neck open.

Turn the flamingo head right-side out.

Stuff with filler and flex foam so that the head stands up!

Sew eyes using black thread.

Flamingo Float Body Supplies

2 ovals of pink fabric for the float

2 pink teardrop shaped pieces for the tail

4 larger pink teardrop-like pieces for the wings

6 11”1 pink rectangles

3 sets 2” Adhesive Velcro

Stuffing

Pink thread

Mark the width of your dog’s back onto the pink fabric.

Mark about 5” outside of your dog’s back measurements.

Mark the length of your dog’s back.

Connect the marks of your dog’s back length measurements to the marks that are 5” outside of your dog’s width measurements to sketch an oval.

Cut out the two ovals from the fabric.

Line the ovals up, and sketch a circle that is 6” in diameter from the middle of the oval.

Cut the middle circles out, and you have your float pieces!

Sew the flamingo head onto an oval piece toward either one of the shorter ends.

Sew the two tail pieces together while leaving 3” of the edges open to lightly stuff the tail.

Lightly stuff the tail, and finish sewing the edges.

Sew the tail onto the opposite end of the flamingo head on the pink oval.

Follow step #9 for the wings.

Stuff the wings, and finish sewing those edges.

Line up the two oval pieces, then sew along the edge of the circle in the middle.

Sew the oval edges starting at the end opposite the flamingo head. Leave about 6” from the beginning stich to stuff!

Stuff the float! (Heavily stuff the sides. Lightly stuff at the oval ends so that the float can sit comfortably on your fur baby’s back.)

Finish sewing the float’s edges.

Sew the wings on either sides of the float.

Stick two sets of Velcro onto the ends of 4 of the long pink rectangle pieces.

Sew the other end of the long pink rectangles on opposite sides from each other on the bottom of the flamingo float toward the head. Repeat for the second set but towards the tail end of the float.

Stick the last Velcro piece onto the last pair of the long pink rectangle pieces.

Sew the other end of the last two pink rectangle pieces onto the sides of the bottom of the neck.

Unicorn Head Supplies

2 pieces of white fabric in the shape of a unicorn’s head

4 triangles of the white fabric for the ears.

Flex Foam

Stuffing

Different colored ribbons

White thread

Thin, cardboard party hat (we used this one)

Gold ribbon

Cut different lengths of each ribbon.

Lay them in a flat layer in between the white unicorn head pieces with the edges of the ribbon lined up with the edge of the unicorn’s back.

Sew along the edges.

Flip the head pieces inside out and sew around the edges while leaving the bottom of the head open.

Flip the head right side out.

Stuff with flex foam.

Sew the eyes using the black thread.

Sew the ears while leaving the bottom open.

Stuff with stuffing.

Sew the ears onto the head of the unicorn.

Wrap the party hat in gold ribbon and put it on the unicorn head.

Sew the eyes using black thread.

Unicorn Float Body

2 ovals of white fabric for the float

2 white teardrop shaped pieces for the tail

6 11”1 white rectangles

3 sets of 2” adhesive Velcro

Stuffing

Different colored ribbon

White thread

Follow the instructions for the Pink Flamingo Float.

Only difference is you need to wrap the unicorn tail in different colored ribbon before sewing it onto the float.

Minus my DIY dog costume fitting lessons learned the hard way, I think they turned out pretty darn cute! Clearly we’re bias, and they’re not even our fur babies. Can you blame us though? Look at that smile!

DIY Pool Float Costume For The Pups

Let me introduce you to Finn and Fritz, our newest resident studio models! Okay, so they’re not exactly studio regulars, but we wish they were. We couldn’t think of any cuties better than them to strut our DIY pool float costume for the pups! Thankfully our friend Kate let’s us borrow lots of pretty things, fur kids included).

In hindsight, I wish we would’ve added a third member to the troop to sport a bikini so it would really come full circle, but you live and learn. Can’t you just see the family dressed in full Palm Springs gear now?!

As you can imagine, we had more fun watching them walk around with unicorn hair running down their neck than we’ve had during the last twenty photoshoots combined, and it was totally worth the sewing! That said, Let me show you what to do, and more importantly what NOT to do, if you’re looking to get a little splash out of your Halloween costumes too…

MY LATEST VIDEOS

MY LATEST VIDEOS

First things first, this would’ve been FAR easier and more practical for wearing if I had skipped velcro straps and had sewn it straight onto pink and white doggy t-shirts instead!

Secondly, I made the animal heads a bit too tall so they kept wanting to fall over the second either pup starting picking up speed or turned too fast. Ideally, the heads should only be about an inch or two taller than the dogs head to have better balance.

As for the rest, here you go!–

Flamingo Head Supplies

2 pieces of pink fabric for the flamingo head and neck

2 white parallelograms cut from white fabric

2 black pieces of fabric in the shape of the bottom of a flamingo’s beak

Flex foam

Black thread for the eyes

White thread

Flip the black and the white fabric pieces so that the inside of the fabrics faces up toward you.

Pinch about ½” of the edge of the white fabric and the matching edge of black fabric, and sew along that line. Repeat for the other black, and white pieces of fabric.

Keeping the fabrics inside out, line the two newly sewed pieces together.

Leaving an inch from the edge of the white fabric that isn’t connected to the black fabric, sew along the rest of the edges to create the beak. Remember to also leave an inch from the edge toward the other white end of the beak.

Line up your two pink flamingo head pieces (also inside out) to the remaining edges of your white pieces.

Pinch about ½” of the edges of the pink and white fabrics, and sew along that edge. (Repeat for the other side.)

Sew the rest of the flamingo’s head together, but leave the bottom of the neck open.

Turn the flamingo head right-side out.

Stuff with filler and flex foam so that the head stands up!

Sew eyes using black thread.

Flamingo Float Body Supplies

2 ovals of pink fabric for the float

2 pink teardrop shaped pieces for the tail

4 larger pink teardrop-like pieces for the wings

6 11”1 pink rectangles

3 sets 2” Adhesive Velcro

Stuffing

Pink thread

Mark the width of your dog’s back onto the pink fabric.

Mark about 5” outside of your dog’s back measurements.

Mark the length of your dog’s back.

Connect the marks of your dog’s back length measurements to the marks that are 5” outside of your dog’s width measurements to sketch an oval.

Cut out the two ovals from the fabric.

Line the ovals up, and sketch a circle that is 6” in diameter from the middle of the oval.

Cut the middle circles out, and you have your float pieces!

Sew the flamingo head onto an oval piece toward either one of the shorter ends.

Sew the two tail pieces together while leaving 3” of the edges open to lightly stuff the tail.

Lightly stuff the tail, and finish sewing the edges.

Sew the tail onto the opposite end of the flamingo head on the pink oval.

Follow step #9 for the wings.

Stuff the wings, and finish sewing those edges.

Line up the two oval pieces, then sew along the edge of the circle in the middle.

Sew the oval edges starting at the end opposite the flamingo head. Leave about 6” from the beginning stich to stuff!

Stuff the float! (Heavily stuff the sides. Lightly stuff at the oval ends so that the float can sit comfortably on your fur baby’s back.)

Finish sewing the float’s edges.

Sew the wings on either sides of the float.

Stick two sets of Velcro onto the ends of 4 of the long pink rectangle pieces.

Sew the other end of the long pink rectangles on opposite sides from each other on the bottom of the flamingo float toward the head. Repeat for the second set but towards the tail end of the float.

Stick the last Velcro piece onto the last pair of the long pink rectangle pieces.

Sew the other end of the last two pink rectangle pieces onto the sides of the bottom of the neck.

Unicorn Head Supplies

2 pieces of white fabric in the shape of a unicorn’s head

4 triangles of the white fabric for the ears.

Flex Foam

Stuffing

Different colored ribbons

White thread

Thin, cardboard party hat (we used this one)

Gold ribbon

Cut different lengths of each ribbon.

Lay them in a flat layer in between the white unicorn head pieces with the edges of the ribbon lined up with the edge of the unicorn’s back.

Sew along the edges.

Flip the head pieces inside out and sew around the edges while leaving the bottom of the head open.

Flip the head right side out.

Stuff with flex foam.

Sew the eyes using the black thread.

Sew the ears while leaving the bottom open.

Stuff with stuffing.

Sew the ears onto the head of the unicorn.

Wrap the party hat in gold ribbon and put it on the unicorn head.

Sew the eyes using black thread.

Unicorn Float Body

2 ovals of white fabric for the float

2 white teardrop shaped pieces for the tail

6 11”1 white rectangles

3 sets of 2” adhesive Velcro

Stuffing

Different colored ribbon

White thread

Follow the instructions for the Pink Flamingo Float.

Only difference is you need to wrap the unicorn tail in different colored ribbon before sewing it onto the float.

Minus my DIY dog costume fitting lessons learned the hard way, I think they turned out pretty darn cute! Clearly we’re bias, and they’re not even our fur babies. Can you blame us though? Look at that smile!